


Oh god, how a flower withers.

by HERE_FOR_THE_GAYMER



Category: HLVRAI - Fandom, Half Life, Half Life VR But The AI Is Self Aware
Genre: Angst, Atomic war, Bittersweet, Bittersweet Ending, Family, G-man doesn’t understand humans, G-man/Dr.coomer/Bubby, Gay, HLVRAI, Half-Life VR But the AI is Self-Aware, Happy Ending maybe, I WILL STEER THIS SHIP MYSELF, I cried writing this beware, M/M, Major character death - Freeform, Multi, Nuclear War, Soup, This is Bad, baby tommy is mentioned, bubby cries, check it out maybe?, give it a chance, god powers, goomby, no beta we die like men, polyamourus, they gay, they rebuild, uhhh I don’t really like this but other people do so, withering away, young grandpas
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-26
Updated: 2020-09-26
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:07:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,145
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26655631
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HERE_FOR_THE_GAYMER/pseuds/HERE_FOR_THE_GAYMER
Summary: G-man doesn’t understand Humans. All these emotions flying around makes it worse. Oh, and so does the nuclear bomb.A nuclear bomb strikes. A god intervenes. A flower withers.
Relationships: Boomer (hlvrai), Bubby/Dr. Coomer/The G-Man (Half-Life), Bubby/The G-Man (Half-Life), Dr. Coomer/The G-Man (Half-Life), goomby (hlvrai)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 24





	1. The bomb

**Author's Note:**

> The bomb drops.  
> (SORRY FOR THE FORMATTING JUST GIVE IT A CHANCE)

Even as a god, there is little I can do to protect them.  
I was able to stop the initial blast from taking them, though I lost a fair part of my mortal form. I was able to restore myself before they woke up, though. 

G-mans head snapped up from his journal as coomer groaned, pushing himself up slowly. The rubble previously ontop of him tumbled to the ground, allowing him to sit on his knees as he rubbed his head in an attempt to remember what happened. He gasped, eyes widening with fear as he shot to his feet, his form relaxed a little when he glanced at G, though the anxiety and concern didn’t fade from his face.  
“The blast- oh, I warned you didn’t I! Where’s Bubby?”  
Coomer said, his voice scratchy. He limped to the other side of the room, catching his breath as if he didn’t do that every day. He wasn’t like that before...G-man did another once over of coomer, trying to take in what might concern humans.  
There was a fairly sized gash in one of his legs, the shirt that he wore presumably to protect his body singed and tattered in some places.  
‘/Ah, well, worse has happened to him. I wouldn’t have been able to save the house if I focused on him./‘ g thought absentmindedly, rising to his feet and walking over to coomer calmly. Coomer gave him a gracious smile, slinging his arm over G’s shoulders and pulling him gently to the other room. They walked together to the kitchen, coomer’s eyes watering. G-man inspected the humans face closer now, not quite grasping what he was upset about. The house was still there. Perhaps it was the pain?  
G thought back to the time he had gotten mad and shoved coomer off the roof of the house. 

They had been doing the shingles, coomer talking endlessly about something or other, though that didn’t matter. G was struggling to get one of the shingles off, but he never said he needed help. He could have very easily gotten it off himself, he was just challenging himself. He remembered muttering something about the house before coomer had walked over and popped the shingle off with ease, continuing his rant. G can’t even fathom why he got so mad when looking back on it, but the next thing he knew coomer had backed up to the side of the roof, giving him one of those Iconic soft looks. G shoved him, maybe to prove a point, maybe just for extra effect, but nevertheless he has seriously misjudged the distance between the edge of the house and coomer. He fell like a sack of bricks, landing with a thud on his back. All the anger had drained out of g the moment he peaked over the side of the house. Seeing coomer crumpled like that, curling around his arm which was now hanging at an odd angle made g feel...something. That was the day he vowed to protect the human as well as the prototype that shared their living space.  
He was lucky enough that coomer didn’t say anything to Bubby when he got home, but he couldn’t remember much else from dinner that night other then coomers laughter.  
He hadn’t even shed a tear. 

“Bubby!” Coomers distressed voice pulled g back into real time.  
Coomer almost collapsed into g with relief, though he hobbled across the room to get to the prototype. Bubby was standing in the doorway of the bomb shelter, a far away expression on his face. Bubbys movements were much slower than usual, g noted, as he shakily returned coomers hug.  
“I....I think we should all go to the bomb shelter next time.”  
Bubby finally choked out, voice shaky as if he could hardly process what he was saying himself.  
Odd things, human emotions.  
“Thank the heavens you made it in time.”  
Coomer said, though his voice was muffled by bubbys shoulder. G slowly approached the two, unsure of what to do other than observe. They stayed like that for a while, coomer eventually reaching out and grasping at the ripped fabric of g-mans shirt and pulling him in to the embrace.  
Bubby was the first one to break the silence, shoulders heaving with the weight of his sobs.  
Seems the shock had worn off. Coomer rubbed small circles on bubbys back, making no move to stop his cries.  
“Now this is what you’d call a nuclear family!”  
Coomer said softly, earning a raspy laugh from Bubby.  
Nuclear. That was the word he had heard to describe this. Nuclear war.  
Coomer pulled away from the hug, Bubby crying out in protest.  
“Now now gentlemen, we have to get to work! We need to get used to this lifestyle.”  
Coomer said, though the look in his eyes told g-man not even he was sure of these words.


	2. Good days, bad days, worst days.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They start to live, he starts to wither.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THIS IS WHERE THE DEATH IS. THIS IS WHERE I CRIED.

There are things that not even I can protect them from. Small things, invisible to even my eyes. Radiation, I like to call them. It, they, the chemical, whatever I fancy to call them at the moment hit coomer first. It was hard to notice, he had gotten used to mastering the art of pretending nothing is wrong, but we (Bubby and I) noticed when he started to get weaker. I hypothesized it would stay to the human parts of coomer, we would have nothing to worry about if it did, seeing as his vital organs were protected by a thick layer of metal, but then the rust came.   
Coomer has never rusted before.   
The radiation picked away at the metal in his arms, making it come away in chunks or simply rot into nothing. Bubby, the problem solver he is, started to replace the parts that would come off with the metal from the house. It wasn’t aesthetically pleasing, no, but it kept coomer safe. Though, we never could stop the rust completely.   
Soon enough the stainless silver that had once safely covered his arms had now been entirely replaced by other metals, or, in turn, rust.   
I started tampering with coomer, I must admit not the most intelligent way to go about the illness. I worked on him while he slept, rearranging his biological make up, DNA, and other worthwhile factors. I never worked on him while he was awake, in fear of [g-man quickly scratched out the word fear from the page] knowing that it would bring him pain if I did it awake.   
I should have told Bubby.  
To him, I assumed it looked as if he had good and bad days.   
Some days, I would hit it right on the nose, his strength would return and the rust would be postponed, laughter filled the house on those days.   
I would change the equation again while he slept, looking for better options.   
Some days, I would, as coomer would say, strike out. His voice would be raspy, he would need help around the house and a deep tiredness would settle into his eyes.   
Silence replaced the world those days.   
Coomer grew weaker and weaker, despite my attempts to reverse the process.   
Why didn’t I stop trying?   
Soon enough, the equations I used on good days before weren’t enough. I was forced back to the drawing board, forced to experiment again. I needed to find an answer before he withered away, but the longer it went on the harder it was to find those good days.   
Why didn’t I tell Bubby?   
Why in the hell didn’t I tell Bubby?   
Then, there came the worst day. The worst day of them all. 

Bubby shook g like his life depended on it, g awaking with a groan. He rubbed his eyes and cursed himself for falling asleep, stopping short when he saw bubbys face.   
It had a deep look of terror on it, pure unhidden fear. G sat up quickly, not getting time to ask before Bubby yanked him off of the ground, pulling him over to the old mattress and nest of blankets where coomer slept.   
His breath came out in harsh gasps, and his cheeks were sunken in from lack of muscle. He looked horrible, more than most days, making the deep emotion (emotions?) g had been repressing for days well up in his chest, the sting of bile at the back of his throat.   
“He’s here, Harold, dear.”  
Bubby said softly, the shaking in his voice enough to tell g that he felt the sting too.   
Coomers eyes fluttered open weakly, what was once a vibrant green clogged by confusion, exhaustion, and sadness. Though the sadness faded when he laid eyes on g, who had his hands interlocked with Bubby.  
“Hel-Hello government!”   
He rasped weakly, something resembling a laugh escaping his chapped lips. G could feel himself shaking, allowing himself to be slowly guided by Bubby to the floor next to Coomers bed. Bubby and g sat kneeled on the wooden floor next to coomer, Bubby slipping his free hand into coomers nearest one.   
Coomer shifted slightly, reaching a decaying arm for g-mans hand. G accepted the hand immediately, trying not to squeeze the once strong hand that now could barely hold on to him.  
“What a fine nuclear family we are, e-eh gentlemen?”  
He said roughly, laughter fading into sickly coughs that made Bubby wince.   
Nobody said anything, concern weighing heavy from Bubby and g.   
Coomer smile faded, replaced with the most serious face he could manage at the time.  
“When I pass-“   
Bubby opened his mouth to protest, though he silenced when coomer gave him an absolutely deadly look.  
“When I pass, leave this house. Leave this c-“   
Coomer winced in pain, taking in a breath through gritted teeth.  
“This this god forsaken land. We’ve waited long enough. I supposed I-I was the one that wanted to stay. Find-Find a better place. Somewhere away f-away from the sickness here.”   
Coomer coughed out, laying his head back onto the pillow, squeezing the twos hands with as much strength as he could muster.  
Bubby was crying. How did G not notice this earlier?   
“Don’t-Don’t be sad for me.”  
Coomer said, shaking now as well.  
“Carry on. Keep-make new memories, my loves.”   
G was crying now, too. It would have been awkward for Bubby to be the only one crying, you see.   
Coomer’s entire body struggled to get out more words, seemingly suffocating him.   
“How did- how did that old ad go? The one for soup? B-Bubby hat-Hated the jingle.”   
Bubby laughed, a genuine laugh that was muffled by the knot of anxiety in his chest.  
“God, who came up with those? Had to stop myself from destroying the house when that damned thing came on.” Bubby said, leaning against g.   
“How did-how did it go?”   
Harold rasped, a weak smile fading on to his face.  
No. A strong smile. G could tell it took a lot of work to muster that.   
Bubby paused for a moment, before forcing out weak notes of a song that held no real meaning.  
“The soupiest soup you ever did see, safe for the family and safe for me!”  
G laughed, surprising himself.  
“What a foolish ad!”  
He said, shaking his head ever so gently.   
Coomer laughed, an honest, genuine laugh. And as the laugh faded, so did he, his body relaxing into the mattress.   
He didn’t even look like coomer anymore, an empty shell where the sun once was.   
There was silence, before bubbys scream ripped through the air, releasing the stress and pain that could only come from seeing a flower wither.   
G screamed too, the very universe parting to make way for his and bubbys harmony, echoing off of the nothingness that had always been there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WAHHHH IM SORRY ITS OKAY GO READ SOME FLUFF-   
> The next chapter dosent have as much angst.  
> BUY SOUP.


	3. A seed is planted.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They rebuild. Flowers leave seeds for gardens to grow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> BABY TOMMY IN THIS CHAPTER.   
> Bittersweet.

It’s been a long time since I’ve written here, or has it only been a month? Nevermind that, I suppose I should get to the point. We’ve found a place, a safe place. Away from the sickness. I was able to protect Bubby from the harshness of it, beating away my curiosity every time it threatened to get the better of me.   
We found civilization, a large city millions of miles away from where the worst day was. People are here, rebuilding. I’ve decided to help.   
There’s a child here, so small. Bubby and I have become quite infatuated with him, deeming him Tommy.   
I didn’t mind when Bubby laughed at my last name. I couldn’t remember last time he laughed.   
He’s taken a role here too, tending to the communications side of things. So far he’s managed to get three whole radios working. He smiled when he looks at them, I know coomer would be proud.   
We will rebuild here, as a family. Me, Bubby, and Tommy. We will rebuild as a nuclear family.   
For the first time in ages I can say that without crying.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That’s it! Thank you for coming this far. I love angst!

**Author's Note:**

> It gets worse, dw. Also I’m over @coomer.clone.aye on Instagram if you like my stuff!! I actually finished this one.


End file.
